Reception Theory

FAST AND FURIOUS 6

The target audience of Fast and Furious is teenagers and young adults, this is because when the franchise started the characters were young. The characters main goal was that of 'The Cowboy', this is because they wanted to make money quickly as they began as a lower class family aspiring to become rich and live comfortable lives. Furthermore, the characters are definitely egoists as they care massively how others see them and their public image.

Even though the main characters are all criminals who get up to illegal activities such as street racing, drug trafficking, shoot-outs and armed robberies, we are still expected to like these characters - which most of the public do. The characters Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Connor believe in honour and family, to them family doesn't mean sharing the same blood, it means being loyal to them, being there for them when they're needed and not expecting anything in return. This ideology of family which is encoded in the film is what makes the characters likeable because although they're criminals they still have a heart and look out for each other; Dominic Toretto is also very religious which is unusual and before every meal they bless the table and in the very first film this actually took Brian O'Connor by surprise and made Brian grow closer to the family even though at the time he was an FBI agent working to get evidence on Dom and put him in jail along with the rest of his family.

This media text celebrates life itself as the characters are on the run from basically every agency in America yet they are still happy to be together and when Mia Toretto announces her pregnancy instead of being fearful it actually brings the family closer together and they celebrate even in a time of worry. This film can tell people what is really important about life because even though the main aim is to get money, the message behind it is that they are getting money so that they can disappear and be safe to maybe grow a family and a life in peace. Furthermore, someone can have trouble agreeing with this film because of experiences in their life revolving crime.

However, not everyone agrees with the message the film is trying to put across. This is because if the main objective of this family is to stay safe then why did they pursue a criminals life in the first place and instead live a regular life and grow a family in a regular, safe environment but instead they act as if the only way to be happy is to have more than enough money which they have to get by stealing and part-taking in illegal street races. Somebody's personal experiences could affect how they view this film as they may have been in situation revolving crime and they may think this film represents the life of crime in a much lighter life; when really it is very depressing and can break a persons spirit completely. Furthermore, even after all the crimes the characters committed it always seems to end well for them and they actually manage to get their freedom, however, many people who have been involved in crimes could be offended as they may believe that the film doesn't recognise how difficult living like that would be and that it doesn't give a realistic interpretation. 

Finally someone could take a negotiated reading and agree with some but not all of the media text. This may happen if somebody lives in a country where crime is not something to take lightly and they may believe that they shouldn't have gotten their criminal records wiped because they were still dangerous people; they may think that even though they helped a government agency to capture a fugitive which is a good thing, they still don't deserve to be free as they broke the law. Furthermore, someone could live in a country or society where this sort of crime does occur and this could make them think that the crimes displayed are quite realistic however the criminals would not be like the criminals in the film as they wouldn't care about anyone but themselves and they would put innocent people at risk whereas in the film the characters are the complete opposite and this could make people lose belief in the film's accurateness.